Cinderella (Hyperion Heights)
Ella, better known as Cinderella, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the first episode of the seventh season. She is portrayed by starring cast member Dania Ramirez, and co-star Alejandra Pérez. She is the original counterpart of Jacinda. Cinderella is based on the titular character from the fairytale, "Cinderella", and the Disney film, Cinderella. History After a time, Ella's father remarries Lady Tremaine, giving Ella a new stepmother and two stepsisters, Drizella and Anastasia. The then fourteen-year-old Anastasia dies, causing Tremaine to blame her husband, while Ella blames herself. Later on, Tremaine and a prince conspire to murder Ella's father, and following his death, Ella is stripped of her old life and forced to be a maid in her stepmother's manor, where she gains the nickname "Cinderella". Not knowing about Tremaine's involvement in her father's death, Cinderella believes the prince to be solely responsible and makes plans to attend an upcoming ball in order to kill him. On her way there in a chariot, she is thrown from her seat after narrowly missing a man on a motorcycle. Cinderella is knocked unconscious and later woken up by the stranger, Henry, who offers her a ride to the ball. As Henry is giving her a demonstration on how to operate the motorcycle, she asks him about how her story ends, seeing as he somehow knows about it. Henry explains that the prince finds the glass slipper she leaves behind at the ball and uses it to prove she is the owner, but Cinderella scoffs at this, considering many women have the same foot size as her. During the conversation, she pockets Henry's dagger without him noticing. Cinderella plays along by distracting him and concluding the story needs a twist before punching him in the face and speeding away on his motorcycle. Cinderella makes it to the ball, but Henry does as well, and he pulls her into a dance to confront her for stealing his dagger. When Henry correctly guesses she didn't come to woo a prince, Cinderella reveals her reasons for wanting the prince dead. Henry asks her to consider what her fate will be after she is caught for murder, but she is resigned to it, believing she has no happy ending. He suggests that their meeting was a sign there is and tells her about his home where she can start over. Cinderella refuses, insisting that she cannot let this grudge go. She succeeds in charming the prince, but once she is alone with him, she pulls out the dagger on him. Strangely, Cinderella finds herself compelled by a magical force that keeps her from stabbing him, only for her stepmother to finish the job for her. After Lady Tremaine falsely accuses her of assassinating the prince, Cinderella attempts to escape capture from the guards. Henry urges her to take his bike and wait for him where they first met so they can leave together for his home. While Henry fights one guard, Cinderella parries with another until she manages to flee the castle. Cinderella returns to the site of her and Henry's first meeting, but as she calls out for him, she is attacked by a guard sent to apprehend her for the prince's murder. She fights him off, only to be seized by another guard, but luckily, Tiana saves her. Tiana introduces herself as a leader of a Resistance working to end Tremaine's tyranny, but an embittered Cinderella wonders where Tiana was when her stepmother had her father killed and forced her to be a maid. Tiana apologizes for everything she's been through and suggests she join her cause as she has impressive fighting skills. Cinderella is uninterested until Tiana tells her about Tremaine's role in her father's death and how she can make a difference in taking down Tremaine before she ruins more people's lives. She then asks Tiana to hop onto the motorcycle, and before she drives off with her new friend, she tosses away one of her glass slippers as a sign for Henry to come find her. At the Resistance camp, Cinderella changes into battle gear and receives boots from a devout member named Jeremiah. Tiana shows her a drawing of a box that Tremaine has, but Cinderella feigns ignorance about it, despite knowing it is a coffin housing Anastasia's body. Henry shows up, having found her because of her slipper, and introduces her to his mother Regina. Cinderella also meets his other companion, a pirate named Captain Hook. As Tiana goes over the plans for storming Tremaine's manor with two groups of Resistance members, Cinderella agrees to lead one of the groups. That night, she sneaks into her stepmother's manor to confront Tremaine about Anastasia's coffin. Cinderella, realizing Tremaine is not done making her pay for her daughter's death, asks her to get it over with and to not hurt her friends. Tremaine admits she still needs something from her before her revenge goes full circle, and then makes her look into the coffin. Cinderella is surprised to see Anastasia's perfectly preserved body, which Tremaine explains is necessary until Cinderella gives her Henry's pure heart to revive her stepsister. Cinderella refuses, but Tremaine enchants her hand with a heart-ripping ability and warns her to follow orders or everyone in the Resistance will die. Unable to bring herself to take Henry's heart, Cinderella prepares to rip out Jeremiah's heart, believing he would be willing to die for Resistance. However, Regina stops her and removes the enchantment on her hand, insisting the sacrifice of one person to save others is never okay. The next day, a guilt-ridden Cinderella attempts to leave on her own. She confesses to Regina about her painful past, while Regina encourages her to forgive herself for Anastasia's death and to start making decisions for herself instead of someone else. As she follows Regina's advice, Cinderella rejoins Tiana and the others, redubbing herself "just Ella", before revealing Tremaine has set a trap for them in the manor, which Regina confirms with a plausible lie about using her magic mirror to spy on the woman. Henry notices something off with Ella, although she quips back that it's good they'll have some time to talk. While Henry is fixing his motorcycle, he shows Ella a torque wrench. The pair's quiet moment is interrupted by a group of bandits, whom they fight off together. When one bandit is left behind and begins fleeing, Ella goes to chase after him. Later in the woods, Ella has an intense swordfight with Henry as she playfully taunts him about not being able to keep up with her even though he was taught by a pirate. She then grabs his arm and jabbing him in his side as a reminder to him that the king's men won't play fair in battle either. Ella swings her sword at him, but she ends up spinning after Henry dodges her move and catches her in his arms. Locking eyes, the two exchange flirty banter before they almost share a kiss, except Ella moves away at the last moment. Ella apologizes, only able to tell him that "it's complicated", but when Henry asks about this, she shushes him upon hearing someone nearby. Alice shows up, and asks for their help finding her father Hook. Ella and Henry bring her to him, but the reunion goes badly, with the poison in Hook's heart growing worse after Alice tries to hug him. As a distraught Alice runs away, the couple follow her through a portal to New Wonderland. Upon arrival to this realm, Ella leads Henry towards a cottage she believes Alice went into, only for them to be caught in a net trap. Much to Ella's bemusement, Henry finds the situation funny as he recalls how his grandpa caught his grandma in a similar trap after she hit him with a rock. Ella grabs Henry's sword, but the blade accidentally slices the rope, freeing them and sending them tumbling. Henry maintains high hopes that Alice and her father will be together again and shares his grandparents' famous motto, "I will always find you". However, Ella thinks he is a bit naive as he comes from a place where true love prevails, while her world is one of broken promises. Inside the cottage, Ella finds the Infinite Maze entrance, which makes Henry realize she is in Wonderland for other reasons. She admits she means to track down her mother Cecelia, whose abandonment broke her father's heart and she wishes to find out her reasons for leaving. After downing a shrinking potion, she rushes into the maze and stumbles into a tea party, where Alice is hiding. When Ella spots her mother's locket on a teapot, Alice reveals Cecelia was killed by a Jabberwock, but she left her family because she had the curse of the poisoned heart. Ella also learns Alice was misled by Drizella into believing she was shielded from Hook's curse. As she realizes Henry is in danger, her mother's locket starts to glow, to which she makes it in time to save him from her stepsister, who is sent home when Alice dumps a looking glass on her. Seeing both pendants glowing in sync, Ella reciprocates Henry's feelings for her by kissing him. The pair return to a recovering Hook and give him a knight chess piece from Alice, who has hopes they can be together after he finds a cure. After Henry is reunited with his old friend Jack, he introduces him to Ella. At a later point in time, Ella and Henry get married and eventually have a daughter named Lucy. Years later, after Henry disappears because of the attack of a mysterious enemy, a fairy called Tiger Lily sends Lucy to deliver a book to her mother, who she claims will be waiting for it. }} Family ---- Trivia Production Notes= Production Notes *The casting call describes her as "a 'strong-willed, independent woman with a no-nonsense sensibility and a warm heart at her core'. Life hasn’t always been kind to her, but she is 'sharp and resourceful' and never gives up on herself — or those she believes in".http://tvline.com/2017/06/29/flash-season-4-spoilers-barry-iris-time-jump/ *According to Dania Ramirez, Cinderella "is edgy and grounded and raw and a badass". She also added that "she's not this damsel in distress. Meeting the prince was not the end of her night, that was actually the beginning".http://www.tvguide.com/news/once-upon-a-time-edgy-raw-version-cinderella/ Appearances See also *Glass Slippers (Hyperion Heights) References fr:Cendrillon nl:Assepoester (Hyperion Heights) Category:Female Characters Category:Season Seven Characters Category:Once Upon a Time Characters